Ethics Case Study: Samuel Weston

After reading your post and many of the colleague in the class, most agree that is not professional to disregard the conversation that the family was having. Although the patient wishes were not to remain on life support and had a document to prove it he also fail to have a proxy to carry one his whishes. The Health Care Proxy is a simple document, legally valid in many states, which allows a person to name someone (an "agent") to make health care decisions their behalf if they are unable to make or communicate those decisions. (Society, 2015).

The ethical dilemma, in this case, is that Nancy Cruzan was in a vegetative state in a Missouri hospital and that the parent wanted to withhold hydration and nutrition from their daughter. There was no documentation that Nancy Cozen wanted this kind of action to take place if she was ever in a vegetative state. The hospital would not go forth with withholding the hydration and nutrition because of the lack of documentation. The hospital dilemma was that they believe that the individual in a vegetative state has a constitutional right to choose if they want to be withheld from hydration and nutrition. There had to have already been a living will or well-documented evidence of the patient wishes.

Jerry McCall is an office assistant for Dr. William’s. Jerry has received training as both a medical assistant and Licensed practical nurses (LPN). During the time the receptionist is out to lunch Jerry is covering for her. Jerry is faced with a common problem in the health care field today. Jerry has been asked to call in a refill for Valium to a pharmacy for a patient. This paper will address why Jerry is not qualified to refill any prescription medication. If Jerry is protected if a lawsuit is filled. Jerry’s decision is a tough one, legal and ethical issues and advice will be provided for Jerry’s use.

We do agreed there is a dilemma in this case. As the chairman of the ethics committee, I found that the dilemma here is that both the patient as well as the hospital staff are right in their view. A person has the right to choose to die however we cannot make a physician carry out the process. With my understanding, we are all on the same agreement and have been informed with all the information about this dilemma. Dr. Vijay has informed that removing Margie’s pacemaker would violate the ethics principles of justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence. If he followed through with Margie’s request, he would be going against helping others, avoiding or causing damage to patients, and disregarding the risks and benefits of Margie by performing the requested actions. Jane Robison has expressed that doing what Margie has requested would not be good for Margie nor her profession due to the ethics standards that are withheld for all the patients. She believes that with

Mr. B, the patient’s brother is Mr. E’s designee to make healthcare decisions in the event that he is unable to do so for himself. He is left to make these decisions without a code of ethics or without medical knowledge. He counts on the medical professionals to assist him. He has an ethical obligation to abide by his brothers wishes and directives. He is influenced by his own beliefs and his perceptions of what his brother would want. If he has the good faith belief that his brother did not understand the need for the ventilator or the outcome of refusing the treatment, then it is not unreasonable or unethical

The dilemma that goes before the ethics committee is that Margie Whitson, age 95, wishes to have her pacemaker deactivated and her physician declined her request based on ethical concerns. By deactivating the pacemaker, the physician feels that patient would not survive. Mrs. Whitson’s physician, Dr. Vijay, is concerned that the deactivation of the pacemaker would be in conflict with the code of conduct and code of ethics as set forth by the American Medical Association, and his moral commitment to the welfare and livelihood of the patient. Therefore, the conflict arises as to whether or not the patient should have the pacemaker deactivate so that she can end her quantity of life and would this action be morally

There are many ethical issues involved in the scenario provided. De Segonzac (2016) presented a scenario where a DNR patient is being resuscitated against her wishes. In the scenario, Dr. Natalie Manning is attempting to stop Dr. Will Halstead from going against a patient’s DNR order. He continues to ask the husband if he “wants her to live”, while the daughter is asking her father to help her mother. Dr. Halstead blatantly goes against the patient’s known wishes by performing CPR on her.

One’s body and life are one’s own to dispose as one sees fit. Everyone is entitled to the right to die concept, in that they can decline or accept life-sustaining treatments. However, this was a dispute in the case of Terri Schiavo where all three branches of government were involved to decide on whether they should keep her on life-prolonging measures or discontinue after she was left in a comatose state. After no sign of improvement for over two months, her diagnosis was changed to a persistent vegetative state leaving her life decisions in the hands of her husband, Michael. Michael argued that his wife would not have wanted the prolonged life support and even went as far as starting a petition to remove her feeding tube, which her parents

A 28 year old female with cerebral palsy and debilitating arthritis is in the hospital for treatment. She is immobile and unable to perform basic tasks on her own. Due to her condition, she is having trouble eating and in order to help, the doctor believes that a feeding tube (PEG tube) should be surgically inserted. When told about the treatment, the patient refuses surgery. She is deemed competent and understands her situation. In this situation, I propose that the care team should respect the wishes of the patient and let her die.

Yes, the information in the headnote describing the author's, Michael Dillingham, qualifications persuades me to side with his opinion. Why? Simply because he is a well-educated individual. Furthermore, he has most likely spent many hours looking into the dangers of steroids and other substances abused by athletes. Personally, I believe that the term "applied ethics" means that a person holds their self to a certain moral standard every day of their life. It implies that the audience has certain moral standards since they are visiting a website that is devoted to "applied ethics". When the author says, "the inmates are running the asylum", I believe he means that these athletes can do whatever they choose to do. Michael Dillingham, the author,

Take the case of Sabine, a 71 year old woman with mild ID and behavioral problems. She was regularly aggressive and had her own apartment in an assisted living center with daily supervision. Sabine was diagnosed with stomach cancer. An ethical conflict arose almost immediately because she had a deep fear of hospitals and mistrusted doctors. She refused to go to the hospital for any treatments, and though her relatives and caregivers tried to calm her fears and even offered medications to help he anxiety she continued to refuse. Ultimately, after they believed they had explained the seriousness of the situation to her the best they could, she was allowed to make her own decision. Sabine refused help, treatment, and even the medication offered to her. She succumbed to her illness at home. Her social worker struggled wish the decision stating, “You have to let go and accept that Sabine has her own say. . . . But it is always difficult to determine whether she is capable of making these decisions or

The first scenario I will like to write about is from the video Advance Care and Planning, the case of Mary, Helen and Steven. According to the notes from PowerPoint slides on “Ethics and Aging,” death is viewed with a negative connotation, even considering it taboo, and some feel speaking about death might trigger a tragic life event (Wong, 5). This might be the reason why Steven, 32, might not have an Advance Care Plan nor a Power of Attorney for Personal Care as indicated by the video. As one of the members of the hospital ethics committee, I would talk to the Helen and Mary first about Steven, and figure out through them what Steven would consider to be a good quality of life. I would then try to convince both women that the quality of

This can be a difficult time not only for the patient but also for the loved ones and family. Sue Ellen, due to the fact that she was in a comatose state isn’t aware that she is possibly living in her final days of her life. During this stage health care professionals try to make the patient as comfortable as possible. The healthcare workers and physicians tried to make Sue Ellen as comfortable as possible. There are several myths about the end of life care that support good health care and good medical ethical practices. During this critical time, ethics, clinical judgement, and the law can run into major conflicts. The patient, families and physician can find themselves considering clinically actions that are ethically appropriate, but could possibly raise legal issues. In this particular case, Sue Ellen family and the healthcare facility are concerned. According to Meisel, Snyder, Quill (2000), “The 7 major legal myths regarding end-of-life-care are: (1) Forgoing life-sustaining treatment for patients without decision-making capacity requires evidence that this was the patients actual wish. Sue Ellen, did not have person that was a designated surrogate. This would play a major factor in my decision as a Health Administrator to have her moved from the AICU to a hospice facility for care. (2) Withholding or withdrawing of artificial fluids and nutrition from terminally ill or permanently unconscious patients is illegal. The only time

After reading Weston, “Getting Started,” “Beyond Authority,” and “Ethical Theories,” I have a clear understanding on what Weston means when stating ethics is a learning experience. Ethics is a learning experience that starts from the moment you are born. Your family instills in you basic morals from the moment you can comprehend rights from wrongs. Derived form roots of ethics Utilitarianism, states that an action is morally right if the majority believes so. Even evil motives can be can be considered acceptable if its for the over all-good. This what I believe Weston was talking about. As each culture in the world has secular bias on how things should operate. What is considered right and wrong, depends of what society deems is right or wrong.

Everyday, healthcare professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas in their workplace. These ethical dilemmas need to be addressed in order to provide the best care for the patient. Healthcare professionals have to weigh their own personal beliefs, professional beliefs, ethical understandings, and several other factors to decide what the best care for their patient might be. This is illustrated in Mrs. Smith’s case. Mrs. Smith is an 85 year old who has suffered from a large stroke that extends to both of her brains hemispheres which has left her unconscious. She only has some brain stem reflexes and requires a ventilator for support. She is unable to communicate how she wishes to proceed with her healthcare. Mrs. Smith’s children, Sara and Frank have different views regarding their mother’s plan of care. The decision that needs to be made is whether to prolong Mrs. Smith’s life, as Sara would like to do, or stop all treatments and care, as Frank feels his mother would want. In the healthcare field, there are situations similar to this case that happen daily where moral and ethical judgment is necessary to guide the decision that would be best for the patient. The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss, compare and contrast the personal and professional values, ethical principles, and legal issues regarding Mrs. Smith’s quality of life and further plan of care.